A method for on-orbit use of a single-component thruster

Abstract

This invention discloses a method for on-orbit use of a monocomponent thruster. The monocomponent thruster structure comprises five parts: an injector, an anti-inverting functional material, a catalytic bed, a nozzle, and a thermal control assembly. The thermal control assembly includes an armored heater, an armored thermistor, and a multi-layer thermal insulation assembly. This invention provides a method for on-orbit use of a thruster containing an invertible functional material and solves the technical challenges of warm-start life for the DT-3 and HAN thrusters through reasonable operating condition design. The DT-3 monocomponent thruster using this method has been successfully applied to a recoverable spacecraft.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of monopropellant thruster, and relates to an on-orbit use method of monopropellant thruster. BACKGROUND

[0002] The monopropellant thruster is widely used in the technical fields of satellites, weapon systems, manned spaceflight, etc. due to its advantages of simple system and high reliability, and provides necessary impulse and thrust for spacecraft for attitude control or orbit adjustment. The working principle of the monopropellant thruster is that monopropellant enters a catalyst bed through a valve under the control of the valve, and after contacting with the catalyst, a catalytic decomposition reaction occurs to generate high-temperature and high-pressure combustion gas, which is ejected through a nozzle to form a reaction force, thereby providing necessary impulse and thrust for the spacecraft.

[0003] For a long time, the monopropellant thruster maintains the installation mode of keeping the nozzle outlet vertical downward (normal installation) during transportation, storage and launching. The reason is that the catalyst bed is prone to generate excess material under the mechanical environment of transportation and launching. Once the monopropellant thruster is inverted (the nozzle outlet is vertical upward), the excess material will enter the upstream sealing surface or electromagnetic valve through the capillary tube of the injector, which is prone to cause sealing failure and thus lead to mission failure. In recent years, a new way to solve the inverted use of the thruster is proposed in patent ZL 201818009100.X, that is, a functional material is installed at the outlet of the injector to block the backflow path of the catalyst powder excess material. However, after the functional material is added, the use method of the thruster becomes complex, and the use method of the thruster has not been reported so far. In addition, the DT-3 and HAN propellants have the advantages of low freezing point and high specific impulse, and can be started at low temperature, and are mostly used in manned spaceflight, attitude control of launch vehicles and upper stage power systems. The working mode is generally normal or low-temperature start at first, and then thermal start, and the working life cycle is about 30 minutes. The disadvantage is that the warm start life is low, and the thruster is rarely used in fields with warm start life requirements such as satellites. The on-orbit use method of the thruster has not been given in China. SUMMARY

[0004] In view of the problems in the prior art, the present application discloses an on-orbit use method of monopropellant thruster, gives the on-orbit use method of the thruster containing invertible functional material, and solves the technical problem of warm start life of the DT-3 and HAN thrusters through reasonable working condition design, which has been successfully applied to a certain return type aircraft.

[0005] The technical scheme adopted by the present application to solve the technical problems is as follows:

[0006] An on-orbit use method of monopropellant thruster, the structure of the monopropellant thruster comprises four parts of an injector (containing anti-inversion functional material), a catalyst bed, a nozzle and a thermal control assembly, the thermal control assembly comprises an armored heater, an armored thermistor and a multilayer thermal insulation assembly, and the use steps and method are as follows:

[0007] (1) 2h before starting, start the armored heater to preheat the catalytic bed;

[0008] (2) The first start is a functional material consumption program: in the normal mode, the pulse starts, the program is 0.05s of opening time and 1s of closing time, and the cycle is 5 times; in the fault mode, the program is 0.05s of opening time and 2s of closing time, and the cycle is 10 times; the control system autonomously selects the starting program according to the catalytic bed temperature value;

[0009] (3) The catalytic bed temperature rising program: 0.1s of opening time, 1s of closing time, and 10 cycles, the catalytic bed temperature is raised to above 300℃;

[0010] (4) In the independent flight section, the catalytic bed maintains a temperature of no less than 80℃, when the catalytic bed temperature drops to 85℃, the thrustor starting spraying program is started, 0.1s of opening time, 1s of closing time, and 10 cycles, the catalytic bed temperature is raised by the heat generated by the catalytic decomposition of the single-unit propellant;

[0011] (5) Before entering the measurement and control arc section, the starting spraying program is started, 0.1s of opening time, 1s of closing time, and 10 cycles, the catalytic bed temperature is raised to above 300℃ by the heat generated by the catalytic decomposition of the single-unit propellant;

[0012] (6) In the measurement and control arc section, the measurement and control system starts the thrustor work according to the spacecraft attitude, the minimum working pulse width is 50ms, and the shortest shutdown interval is 50ms;

[0013] (7) In the de-orbiting stage, the single-unit attitude control thrustor pulses, the minimum working pulse width is 25ms, and the shortest shutdown interval is 25ms;

[0014] The method can realize that the thrustor is started once at low temperature in orbit, started three times at normal temperature, the warm starting number is greater than or equal to 100 times, and the hot starting number is not less than 10,000 times;

[0015] The normal working mode of the thrustor is that the armored heater normally works, and the catalytic bed temperature ranges from 0℃ to 35℃; the fault mode of the thrustor is that the armored heater is faulty, and the catalytic bed temperature ranges from -20℃ to 0℃;

[0016] The low-temperature starting temperature range of the thrustor is -20℃ to 0℃; the normal-temperature starting temperature range is 0℃ to 35℃; the warm starting temperature range is 80℃ to 300℃; and the hot starting temperature range is 600℃ to 1100℃;

[0017] The thrustor use method is suitable for DT-3 and HAN single-unit propelling systems.

[0018] Due to the adoption of the above technical solutions, the present invention provides a method for the on-orbit use of a single-component thruster. The present invention provides a method for the on-orbit use of a thruster containing invertible functional materials, and solves the technical problem of warm start-up life of DT-3 and HAN thrusters through reasonable working condition design. The DT-3 single-component thruster using this method has been successfully applied to a certain recoverable spacecraft. Attached Figure Description

[0019] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the invertible thruster structure in the method of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 4 This is the initial startup (functional material consumption program) data curve of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 5 This is the catalytic bed heating program data curve of Example 2 of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 6 This is the thruster jetting procedure data curve of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 7 This is the 50ms / 200ms start-up data curve of the thruster entering the measurement and control arc segment in Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 8 This is the thrust chamber pressure and temperature data curve for the 25ms start-up phase of the thruster during the off-track stage of Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0028] To make the technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention:

[0029] Example 1:

[0030] like Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, this application discloses a method for on-orbit use of a single-component thruster, with the following steps and methods:

[0031] (1) Two hours before startup, turn on the armored heater to preheat the catalyst bed;

[0032] (2) Initial startup is a functional material consumption program: In normal working mode, pulse start, the program is 0.05s start time, 1s stop time, and 5 cycles;

[0033] (3) Catalytic bed heating program: start time 0.1s, stop time 1s, cycle 10 times to raise the catalytic bed temperature to above 300℃;

[0034] (4) During the independent flight phase, the temperature of the catalyst bed in orbit is maintained at no less than 80°C. When the temperature of the catalyst bed drops to 85°C, the thruster jetting program is started. The start time is 0.1s and the stop time is 1s. The cycle is repeated 10 times. The temperature of the catalyst bed is increased by generating heat through the catalytic decomposition of the single-component propellant.

[0035] (5) Before entering the measurement and control arc, start the spraying program first, with an opening time of 0.1s and a closing time of 1s, and cycle 10 times. The temperature of the catalytic bed is increased by more than 300℃ by generating heat through the catalytic decomposition of the single-component propellant.

[0036] (6) Upon entering the telemetry and control arc, the telemetry and control system starts the thruster to work according to the aircraft's attitude. The working pulse width is 50ms and the shortest shutdown interval is 50ms.

[0037] (7) During the derailment phase, the single-group attitude control thruster pulses are operated with a working pulse width of 25ms and a minimum shutdown interval of 25ms.

[0038] The method for using the single-component thruster in orbit enables the thruster to start once at low temperature, start three times at normal temperature, start 100 times at warm temperature, and start 10,000 times at hot temperature.

[0039] The thruster operates normally with the armored heater working normally and the catalytic bed temperature range being 0℃~35℃.

[0040] The low-temperature start-up temperature range is -20℃ to 0℃; the normal temperature start-up temperature range is 0℃ to 35℃; the warm start-up temperature range is 80℃ to 300℃; and the hot start-up temperature range is 600℃ to 1100℃.

[0041] The method of using the thruster is applicable to the HAN monocomponent propulsion system.

[0042] Example 2:

[0043] like Figure 3As shown, a method for using a single-component thruster in orbit is described, with the following steps and methods:

[0044] (1) Two hours before startup, turn on the armored heater to preheat the catalyst bed;

[0045] (2) Initial startup is a functional material consumption program: In fault mode, the program has a startup time of 0.05s, a shutdown time of 2s, and cycles 10 times. The data curve is as follows: Figure 4 As shown;

[0046] (3) Catalytic bed heating program: start-up time 0.1s, stop-down time 1s, cycle 10 times to raise the catalytic bed temperature to above 300℃. The data curve is shown in the figure. Figure 5 As shown;

[0047] (4) During the independent flight phase, the on-orbit temperature of the catalytic bed is maintained at no less than 80℃. When the temperature of the catalytic bed drops to 85℃, the thruster jetting program is initiated, with an on time of 0.1s and an off time of 1s, repeated 10 times. The temperature of the catalytic bed is increased by generating heat from the catalytic decomposition of the single-component propellant. The data curve is shown in the figure. Figure 6 As shown;

[0048] (5) Before entering the measurement and control arc, start the spraying program first, with an opening time of 0.1s and a closing time of 1s, and cycle 10 times. The temperature of the catalytic bed is increased by more than 300℃ by generating heat through the catalytic decomposition of the single-component propellant.

[0049] (6) Upon entering the telemetry and control phase, the telemetry and control system activates the thrusters based on the aircraft's attitude. The operating pulse widths are 50ms and 100ms, with a shutdown interval of 200ms. The thruster 50ms / 200ms activation chamber pressure and temperature data curves are as follows: Figure 7 As shown;

[0050] (7) During the deorbiting phase, the single-unit attitude control thruster pulses operate with a pulse width of 25ms and shutdown intervals of 25ms and 50ms. The thruster operating pulse width of 25ms and the start-up chamber pressure and temperature data curve are shown below. Figure 8 As shown;

[0051] The aforementioned method for using a single-component thruster in orbit enables the thruster to be started once at low temperature, three times at normal temperature, 120 times at warm temperature, and 20,000 times at hot temperature.

[0052] The thruster failure mode is armored heater failure, and the catalyst bed temperature range is -20℃ to 0℃;

[0053] The low-temperature start-up temperature range is -20℃ to 0℃; the normal temperature start-up temperature range is 0℃ to 35℃; the warm start-up temperature range is 80℃ to 300℃; and the hot start-up temperature range is 600℃ to 1100℃.

[0054] The thruster usage method was actually applied to the DT-3 single-component thruster of the cargo return capsule attitude and orbit control power system, and successfully achieved on-orbit flight;

[0055] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any equivalent substitutions or modifications made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present invention, based on the technical solution and inventive concept of the present invention, should be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of on-orbit use of a single-element thruster, characterized in that The single-component thruster structure comprises an injector (1), an anti-inversion functional material (2), a catalytic bed (3), a nozzle (4) and a thermal control assembly, the thermal control assembly comprises an armored heater (5), an armored thermistor (6) and a multi-layer thermal insulation assembly (7), and the on-orbit use method of the single-component thruster comprises the following steps: S1: a period before starting, the armored heater (5) is started to preheat the catalytic bed (3); S2: the first starting is a consumption program of the anti-inversion functional material (2): in a normal working mode, the program is that the starting time is 0.05 s, the closing time is 1 s and the cycle is 5 times; in a fault mode, the program is that the starting time is 0.05 s, the closing time is 2 s and the cycle is 10 times; the control system autonomously selects a starting program according to the temperature value of the catalytic bed (3); S3: the catalytic bed (3) temperature rising program: the starting set time, the closing set time and the cycle K times, the temperature of the catalytic bed (3) is raised to above 300 DEG C; S4: in an independent flight section, the temperature of the catalytic bed (3) is maintained above 80 DEG C, when the temperature of the catalytic bed (3) is reduced to 85 DEG C, the thruster is started to spray, the starting set time, the closing set time and the cycle K times, the temperature of the catalytic bed (3) is raised by the heat generated by the catalytic decomposition of the single-component propellant; S5: before entering a measurement and control arc section, the spraying program is started, the starting time is set time, the closing time is set time, the cycle is K times, the temperature of the catalytic bed (3) is raised to above 300 DEG C by the heat generated by the catalytic decomposition of the single-component propellant; S6: when entering the measurement and control arc section, the measurement and control system starts the single-component thruster according to the attitude of the spacecraft, the minimum working pulse width is 50 ms and the shortest shutdown interval is 50 ms; S7: in the off-orbit stage, the single-component thruster works in pulse mode, the minimum working pulse width is 25 ms and the shortest shutdown interval is 25 ms. The use method controls the thruster to start at low temperature once on orbit, to start at normal temperature three times, the warm starting times are greater than or equal to 100 times, and the hot starting times are not less than 10,000 times.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: The normal working mode of the single-component thruster is that the armored heater (5) normally works and the temperature of the catalytic bed (3) ranges from 0 DEG C to 35 DEG C; the fault mode of the single-component thruster is that the armored heater (5) is faulty and the temperature of the catalytic bed (3) ranges from -20 DEG C to 0 DEG C.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: The low-temperature starting temperature range is -20 DEG C to 0 DEG C; the normal-temperature starting temperature range is 0 DEG C to 35 DEG C; the warm starting temperature range is 80 DEG C to 300 DEG C; and the hot starting temperature range is 600 DEG C to 1100 DEG C.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein: The use method is suitable for DT-3 and HAN single-component propulsion systems.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein: ​

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